Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) defeated New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy in the state’s first Democratic convention of the 2024 Senate primary race.
Kim’s blowout victory in the Monmouth County Democratic convention, with 56.8% to Murphy’s 38.8%, was the first test among the Democratic candidates for the seat of indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who has not said whether he is running for reelection. Progressive activist Patricia Campos-Medina came in third, with 4.2% of the vote.
“There’s no sense anybody is destined to be able to win this thing,” Kim, whose 3rd Congressional District in the House includes parts of Monmouth County, told reporters after the vote. “It confirmed what I’ve always thought — we’re the campaign that has the momentum.”
“Tammy is grateful for all the votes she received today from Monmouth County and is thankful to all the delegates that stayed in the room during the long day,” Alex Altman, Murphy’s communications director, said in a statement to Politico. Tammy congratulated Andy on a hard fought win today in Monmouth and she looks forward to continuing her work to build a strong coalition across the state and earning the support of New Jersey voters.”
Despite having wide name recognition as first lady and Monmouth County as her home county, Murphy was unable to gain momentum in the leadup to the race. Days ahead of the county convention, the National Organization for Women-New Jersey PAC recommended the endorsement of Kim, passing over the two women in the Democratic primary.
A poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University released Feb. 2 showed Kim leading Murphy statewide 32% to 20%, with 31% of likely Democratic primary voters undecided.
The seat is “likely Democratic,” per the Cook Political Report, so whoever wins the primary will likely become the state’s senator.
The New Jersey Senate race has attracted several candidates since Menendez was charged in September with bribery and acting as a foreign agent to benefit the Egyptian government. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, who was also charged with bribery, have pleaded not guilty, though the senator resigned his position as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has received calls for his expulsion from Congress from within his party, including from Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
While launching his campaign to replace Menendez on Nov. 10, 2023, Kim said, “It doesn’t have to be this broken politics where you just have people putting their own personal ambition ahead of what’s good for this country. It’s about being a decent human being — a decent human being that treats other people with respect.”
The county Democratic conventions are important due to the name of the winner appearing on the same line on the primary ballot as other party-endorsed candidates. All counties in New Jersey use the “party-line system” aside from two. As the first convention of the cycle, Monmouth County’s results may be a sign of what is to come in the race.
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Burlington County will hold the next county Democratic convention on Feb. 24. The statewide New Jersey Senate primary will occur on Tuesday, June 4.
The Washington Examiner contacted the Kim and Murphy campaigns for comment.
